The hype around Apple Inc's much-awaited iPhone 5, which was launched amidst much fanfare on Wednesday after a year of speculations, was overwhelming but some of the reviewers found it to be 'underwhelming'.

The hype around Apple Inc's much-awaited iPhone 5, which was launched amidst much fanfare on Wednesday after a year of speculations, was overwhelming but some of the reviewers found it to be 'underwhelming'.

Apple iPhone 5 has got mixed reviews - from impressive to not so impressive - but most critics expect the new product to sell like hot cakes.

Patrick Goss of Techradar is all praise for the features iPhone 5 offers but felt it to be a bit of a letdown.

"In the hand the iPhone 5 certainly feels comfortable. You can see why Apple decided to keep the width the same as it fits the hand nicely - just as its predecessors have," wrote Goss. "Given the level of hype around the iPhone 5 it's almost inevitable that phone itself ends up feeling a little underwhelming when it is launched, but Apple is a past master at ticking the boxes, and giving its growing legion of fans enough to justify an upgrade."

Goss is of the opinion that "not having NFC is a real misstep, as it would have made the Passbook application in iOS 6 much better" but he feels the new iPhone will do good business.

"Is it going to sell like hot-cakes? Of course. Will it send shockwaves shuddering through the tech world and turn competitors back to their drawing boards? No," he wrote in his review.

Fiov Mccormack of Gizmobird "Over all the iPhone 5 seems a bit underwhelming. Ever since last years' iPhone 4S announcement, disappointment seems to be synonymous with the iPhone brand. There have been some significant improvements in software but nothing hugely innovative. The hardware development department at Apple Inc. seems to have ground to a halt altogether. Admittedly though, the appearance of the iPhone is quite distinguished from the rest of the iPhone family, and I mean this in a very positive sense."

Charles Arthur of The Guardian seems not to be very impressed with iPhone 5. "Two groups of people will be delighted to snap this up: anyone with an iPhone from before September 2010 (so the iPhone 3G, 3GS, or 4); and anyone who wants to get 4G superfast mobile broadband speeds and is with Orange (aka T-Mobile, aka Everything Everywhere)," he wrote.

However, he added, "If the time and the price is right, the iPhone 5 is definitely the most integrated phone out there."

"There is not a wow factor because everything you saw today is evolutionary. I do think they did enough to satisfy," Michael Yoshikami, chief executive of wealth management company Destination Wealth Management, told Reuters.

The new iPhone 5 will be available from the Apple Online Store (www.apple.com), Apple's retail stores, and through AT&T, Sprint, Verizon Wireless and select Apple Authorized Resellers.

The smartphone will be available in countries like the United Stated, Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Japan, Singapore and the UK next Friday, Sept 21. However, customers can pre-order the new iPhone this Friday. It will come in either white and silver or black and slate, and will be priced in the US at $199 (US) for the 16GB model and $299 (US) for the 32GB model and $399 (US) for the 64GB model.

iPhone 5 Specifications:

iPhone 5 comes with iOS 6 with over 200 new features including new Maps app, turn-by-turn navigation, Facebook integration; Passbook organization; more Siri features